Big Sky Tongue Twisters: Master The Pronunciation Of Local Towns

I Was Born In A Montana Town Outsiders Can't Pronounce

Ever since I was a child in Choteau, Montana, I've been telling people how to say it.  (show tow not chateau. Such a peeve of mine.) Choteau just happens to reside in Teton (tee tawn)  County, neighbor to Pondera (pon der eh) County, and only a couple of hours from Montana's capitol, Helena (helen a).  With the exception of Havre (have her), where I grew up covers a pretty good number of hard to pronounce names in Montana.

A Look At Choteau, A Hidden Gem In Montana

We don't need an article telling us which name confounds outsiders most, but here it is: Readers Digest covers the most difficult town name to pronounce in every state.

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I Don't Agree With Reader's Digest

Is it even legal to question Reader's Digest? Growing up, that and the Old Farmer's Almanac were things we did not question.

I'm doing it.  Above, I covered a bunch of the hard to pronounce town names in Montana.  I didn't even mention Valier (va leer), Dupyer (da poo yer), Megher (maar), Wibaux (wee bow), Ronan (row nan), or Ravalli (ra valley).

Imagine My Surprise When Reader's Digest Chose Ekalaka (eek a lack a)

Ok, yeah, that's a tricky one, but come on. If I hear some out of stater misprounce Helena by saying He-lay-na or Hel-lee-na or calling Havre Harv, I'm just going to scream.  And what about Pondera being called Pon-dare-ah?

Read More: What Are Montana's Best Run Towns?

While I agree that Ekalaka is a tricky one, my money will always be on Helena and Havre.